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OVER 25,000 COPIES SOLD WORLD-WIDE: TRANSLATED INTO EIGHT LANGUAGES TOP KNIFE: The Art & Craft of Trauma Surgery will help you take a badly wounded patient to the operating room, organize yourself and your team, do battle with some vicious injuries and come out with the best possible result. It is a practical guide to operative trauma surgery for residents and registrars, for general surgeons with an interest in trauma, and for isolated surgeons operating on wounded patients in military, rural or humanitarian settings. A surgical atlas may show you what to do with your hands - but not how to think, plan and improvise. Here you will find practical advice on how to use your head as well as your hands when operating on a massively bleeding trauma patient. The first part of this book presents some general principles of trauma surgery. The second part is about trauma surgery as a contact sport. Here we show you how to deal with specific injuries to the abdomen, chest, neck and peripheral vessels. The single most important lesson we hope you will derive from this book is to always keep it simple - because, in trauma surgery, the simple stuff works.

All surgeons want to be better surgeons... They work hard to be respected by their peers, appreciated by their patients, and valued by their communities. Most of the estimated 200 million surgeries performed worldwide every year go as anticipated, with positive patient outcomes. However, the number of surgical complications and preventable medical errors still remains unacceptably high. Why are experienced surgeons still creating so many adverse events? More importantly, what can surgeons do to better address the situation? Blood, Sweat and Tears — Becoming a Better Surgeon seeks to answer these questions. The book provides pragmatic examples on how good surgeons can grow from being technically brilliant to becoming empathetic and capable of providing safe, compassionate, and more effective patient care. Blood, Sweat and Tears — Becoming a Better Surgeon follows trauma surgeon Philip Stahel's 20-year journey from his 'rookie years' in internship and residency, to his development as a global patient safety advocate, renowned academician and teacher, and compassionate surgeon. The book touches on why our current patient safety protocols and checklists fail to keep patients safe and how a physician-driven initiative with credible leadership is needed to build a sustainable 'culture of patient safety.' Written for a wide audience and based on the paradigm that “good judgment comes from experience which comes from poor judgment”, Blood, Sweat and Tears — Becoming a Better Surgeon provides in-depth coverage of all the critical and timely components of safe surgical care, relates practical tips for improving the quality of partnerships between surgeons and patients, and offers a practical guide on how to reduce the learning curve to becoming a better surgeon.

I applaud Dr. Stahel for presenting a rich compilation of his honest and remarkable first-hand experiences and the collective work of doctors and health care leaders to reduce the endemic variation in medical quality that contributes to the #3 cause of death in the U.S. today — medical care itself. Marty Makary MD, Author of The New York Times bestseller, Unaccountable

“Blood, Sweat & Tears” is a great book, one of a kind, and destined to be a medical classic. What makes the book exceptional is the narrative about a difficult human endeavor, often done imperfectly, by humans who have been told they should be ‘perfect’. This quintessential paradox is why this book is a practical story about life and will likely be of interest and enjoyment to many outside the realm of medicine. Wade Smith MD, Co-founding Editor, Patient Safety in Surgery

This, the fourth edition of Schein's Common Sense Emergency Abdominal Surgery, builds on the reputation of the three previous editions.
Already a worldwide benchmark, translated into half a dozen languages, this book guides surgical trainees logically through the minefields of assessment and management of acute surgical abdominal conditions.
General surgery as a concept may have been overtaken in many parts of the world by the development of niche specialties, but the need for a cohort of generalists able to deal competently with common surgical emergencies has not gone away. If you recognise this need then this is the book for you! Tyro surgeons and experienced practitioners alike will benefit from the distilled wisdom contained in these pages.
The direct, no nonsense, writing style, supported by entertaining cartoons, gives clear guidance while at the same time providing amusing insights into our collective surgical pschye. NOT a standard textbook. Buy it! You'll not regret it.
Some new editors and authors enhance the new edition. Almost all chapters have been revised to take account of new concepts and modern developments. New chapters have been added and some completely rewritten often with a new emphasis on the importance of a laparoscopic approach.
Reviews of previous editions
“This is written with short punchy chapters making it a very difficult book to put down.” R.A.B. Wood, Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
“Since Mondor’s times in the forties of the last century there was no other book in surgery to be written so easy and witty.”
Boris D. Savchuk, World Journal of Surgery
“By the end I was a total enthusiast; this is a text like no other I read. Unreservedly recommended to old and young and alike.”
M. Winslet, Royal Free Hospital, London, Colorectal Disease
“The title describes this book perfectly. This is a no-nonsense approach to the sometimes very difficult situations in general surgery.… The authors describe their experiences in tough situations of patient care for residents and young attendings.… the historical quotes add a good amount of insight and interest. I have not come across another book like this.… Focused on the real situations that surgeons come across, the book answers the questions that are not addressed in the major textbooks.”
Robert A. Hanfland, Doody’s Review Service
“This book covers emergency abdominal surgery in a useful and interesting way. [It is] a small and handy book yet the coverage is wide. It would be of interest to any general surgeon and should certainly be read by surgical trainees. [It] allows mention of many things which would otherwise be excluded from a more rigidly structured work. I was also glad to be reminded of many things which I had known but forgotten. The writers clearly know what they are talking about.”
David Evans, Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England
A sample of testimonials posted on Amazon:
By Donald Dupuis, MD, Lahey Clinic
“A Must Have Book. I am about to end my chief year in general surgery residency — my copy of the first edition shows the wear of half a dozen total read throughs and probably hundreds of referencings. Newest edition is equally good. For the last 3 years I have given this book to our interns if they finish their surgical internship. And I’ve paid for this myself — if you know how little residents get paid you will know how important I think it is. If you are in surgical training DO NOT WAIT ANOTHER DAY BEFORE YOU BUY THIS BOOK. I do agree with another reviewer who thought a bit of cool surgical technique would have been good too. But, all in all, best, most useful little book on surgery ever. Nuff said.”
By Chet A. Morrison, Assistant Professor of Surgery, Director of Surgical Critical Care, Michigan State University
“A very useful practical guide. This is a fine book in the tradition of ‘guides to being on call’ — or maybe the ‘guide to the perplexed’. I like the straightforward get to the point style, and the directness of the book makes this a useful book to have handy when confronted with some of the emergency surgery problems. I would only say it could have had a bit more on surgical technique, and one or two references would have been useful (instead there was almost a militant insistence on as few as possible). But I would recommend it for any resident who is on call, and I find it useful as a staff surgeon as well.”
By K. M. Kemp
“Love it. I’m a big fan of this book, having just finished it a month ago. It’s a good mix of the author’s own experience as well as expert commentary when indicated. Compared to a textbook, it’s much more engaging and easier to read. Also compared to a text, it seems much more practical in the advice it gives. As a brand new intern, I gleaned a lot from this book. Highly recommended for fellow trainees.”
By Jendri
“A surgical must have. This is a very well written and very practical guide to emergency surgery. It covers virtually all aspects of emergency general surgery and does it in a very interesting way. I think this is one of the best books on the subject. For me it certainly is a must have. In the next edition, probably the only thing that I would like to add to this book would be the information about the military uniform worn by Dr Karl Schein on the photograph on one of the first pages. Dr Schein is wearing a uniform of the 1st Polish Army formed in Soviet Union in 1943. Altogether a great book.”
By andreromeo
“A must. Dr. Moshe Schein has a very personal view about medicine and about the art of surgery, and that is why this book is really a must for clinicians and surgeons.” By Andy “Simply perfect. The best choice in surgery for trainees! It makes the more difficult surgery areas very easy to understand. I recommend it to all surgeons.”
By maxim
“Worth every penny. Invaluable as a guide to assist in the resolution of a broad range of abdominal problems. The book is well structured, running from opening chapters addressing pre-operative issues, and on through a pretty complete spectrum of gut complaints likely to arise in the real world, and how best to sort them out. It’s not only useful, but very well written, and, for a text book, an absolute pleasure to read. Short bite size chapters combined with the occasional cartoon make this 3rd edition of Schein well worth the investment. Blend with Cope’s Diagnosis of the Acute Abdomen for the ideal cocktail.”
By J. D. Wassner
“Well-written, easy to read. Should be required reading for any General Surgery resident, and anyone who does acute care and trauma.”

Following on from the success of the international bestseller Key Questions in Cardiac Surgery, the long awaited Key Questions in Thoracic Surgery will be the next book in the Key Questions series to be released. Key Questions in Thoracic Surgery will systematically cover all the main topics involved in the current practice of a thoracic surgeon. It will incorporate current guidelines for practice (such as from the American College of Chest Physicians, British Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society) and up-to-date information based on current literature. Each chapter will be structured to include etiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, indications for surgery, peri-operative management, surgical options and postoperative care. Possible complications will be discussed and the results of current practice presented. Importantly, there will be a section on basic sciences related to the practising thoracic surgeon and a further section on thoracic investigations with many images illustrating the variety of pathologies. Each chapter will also contain important references for further reading and greater depth of knowledge. The data and body of knowledge presented in this book is strictly evidence-based and is relevant to all thoracic surgical trainees, at any stage of their training programme. It will provide residents, fellows and specialist registrars the necessary information to carry out their daily duties. Respiratory physicians and thoracic intensive care unit specialists will also find the book useful in terms of the indications and surgical management of these patients, as they are integral to the thoracic surgical process. Another important group is the nursing staff, physiotherapists and other professions allied to medicine working with patients with adult thoracic disease either pre-operatively or postoperatively, as it will help to give a detailed understanding of the principles surrounding thoracic surgical disease. Most importantly, the book is ideal as a revision aid for residents/registrars undertaking their Cardiothoracic Surgery Board examinations around the world. Although these examinations vary in format in different countries, this book is applicable to all cardiothoracic surgical trainees. Its concise, yet complete coverage of the important topics, make it the ideal guide to answer the key questions in thoracic surgery that are asked within the confines of an examination.

Welcome to TFM Publishing Ltd

As an independent family-owned company specialising in academic medical publishing, we are proud that our publishing programme includes the work of some highly respected international authors.

The company continues to grow its academic range, particularly in the areas of intensive care and critical care medicine, anaesthesia, vascular medicine, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, trauma and urology.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the Directors — Nikki Bramhill or Paul Lawrence.